In the time between the Second Eruption and Third Eruption, there was a period of mystery.

A silence that caught the attention of many.

While before they were plagued by Dark Muses and Demonic Entities, it somehow ended up that the latter simply vanished. The people out of the loop not caring one bit.

Simply happy to have had the chance to be free from the struggles those beings brought.

There were less random slaughters, and the crime rate in many cities drastically lowered.

A power vacuum being left in its place.

However, this was only for the average citizen. After all, for those in the know, this wasn't something they could ignore. It was especially true for those reliant on 'Demons'.

Such as the Jinn taming family: Lazrik.

Simon Rainglow, the greatest of heroes, had said one thing in response to this incident:

"The resentment in the air is disappearing."

For the Lazrik Clan, this meant that their sole method of earning money was now extinct.

Only straggler demons being left.

All beings in the world, once intelligent, knew how to let out resentment into the world.

This was the oxygen for spiritual Demonic Entities just as Miasma was to Dark Muses. 

It meant only Demons possessing a weapon or body could survive in this kind of world.

Definitely not a natural occurrence.

And sad to say: There was one exception.

Landan managed to get far enough from his son… in order to keep his only family left safe.

He kept the sword wrapped tightly and made sure to keep far enough from the handle.

Using every safeguard possible.

He leaned on a wall and awaited his fate.

'This… is really the end.' Landan had a hard time coming to terms with his mortality.

He didn't want to die.

It hurt… Everything hurt… His hands, legs, feet, joints, neck, organs, and even his skin.

Everything burned…

His condition rapidly deteriorating.

When his eyes closed, a presence started to move. It was the Cursed Weapon of old.

The one in his hand…

…the 'Absolute War Devil Sword— Shaitaan'.

It demonstrated exactly why the blade was so feared the moment he'd let his guard down.

It radiated a power that had become lost in this world. Generating vastly without end.

The power of 'Resentment'.

Landan was covered in a red mist at that moment. Possessed in his weakest moment.

He remembered the past.

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SCREW THAT!!!

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With a sudden burst of adrenaline, Landan slapped himself awake before 'it' took over.

He glared at the sword.

Maybe he would have fallen for this trick if he wasn't in-the-know, but it was all to clear now.

He had no desire to use and be corrupted by the sword. It was called 'Absolute' for good reasons. After all, the power this sword had was to turn people towards evil with certainty.

It didn't matter how pure or righteous. Once you started listening, it would corrupt you.

It was kinda understandable the sword was so powerful. After all, it possessed the Imaginary Spirit, the reflection of myths, of the Devil that was feared in Islamic texts.

A figure akin to Satan.

But while a Fallen Angel was something akin to a rebellious child, this sword was different.

Landan could hear the faint whisperings of the sword. It called itself his good friend.

Talking about how if there was a God, it had left his wife to die. If there was a Devil, then at least it'd let him take revenge for the fallen. A look of how justice could work if he accepts.

He just needed to let himself be free.

Allow that hatred Landan had been holding back to flow. Destroy everything in his way.

Perhaps even protect his son in the process.

"You're not taking me." A smile appeared on Landan's face while holding up the blade.

He wasn't that easy to possess.

"I've learnt so much about your past. Do you think I didn't have a plan? Choosing to bring you out here… where no one can interrupt us?" Now he sounded like the bad guy.

Landan had brought the Absolute War Devil Sword an abandoned D.U.S.T. Shop under the influence of the Frost Heart DUST Company. The leaders of new technology.

Their focus being in an advanced form of Coloured Steel, also known as Dissolved Unified Strain Texture. Which was also known as Steel DUST for short. It catched on better.

Usually, this place was ran similar to a weapon store in that it was extremely guarded. The only reason he was able to get in so easily being the disaster that occurred.

He had a look around.

"There." Landan looked past the corpse on the counter and glanced at the door beyond.

After opening it up, he saw the machine used to convert magical steel into clusters of DUST. Each particle being 'unified' and keeping close to each other like fireflies.

Their appearance was similar to glowing sand grains. Making it hard to use for melee arms.

What this 'Steel DUST' was used for was magic. The new source of a Mage's power.

The sword, as if it had an ego, started to rebel as soon as it believed it would be harmed.

Letting out a burst of energy to repel him.

"Don't worry. I know you can't be destroyed so easily. You might even evolve if I put you in that." Landan wasn't going to risk turning the sword even more terrifying than it was.

No, perhaps that plan wouldn't be so bad.

"Right.., Are you ready to be 'improved' by a genius Artificer like myself? Don't be shy~ I am… We are… 'friends', right? Right? Then let me give you a glow up. Errr… Dude." The strained youthful energy was embarrassing.

He was trying his best to sound endearing. 

The only problem was that evil can be sensed by evil. The blade could feel his strong ire.

But it was just a sword in the end.

"Great! Then let's get started." With the last of his life, Landan wanted to nip this in the bud.

He wouldn't allow the sword to exist.

If he let this be, then his son might one day have to deal with its corrupting influence.

"You can't avoid this." The fake friendliness vanished, and Landan picked up a container.

He shattered the glass.

Released from that small container was a cluster of Steel DUST gathered like a sand cloud. It didn't disperse when exposed to the air, and instead constantly danced around.

Landan's Arcane Mind started activating.

He touched the blue cluster of sand and invoked his willpower into the magic metal.

Creating a water tendril out of thin air.

The sapphire blue cluster of DUST was consumed, and the Devil Sword was caught.

He brought it into the back of the store and started working on recreating the sword.

If purging, cleansing, and purifying using the Holy Attribute didn't work… then he would do something never attempted before. Landan would use it as materials for a new sword.

And lucky for him, the conditions were good.

He took a deep breath.

'Sorry, Lex…' Landan thought while activating the Miasma Core he'd recently acquired.

Drawing in all the Miasma around him to fight against the unrivalled evil power of 'Shaitaan'.

A crucial event taking place.

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A very familiar pink-haired man with golden eyes… suddenly looked in a certain direction.

Both with shock and disappointment.

"What's wrong?" His secretary turned to him.

"This movement… Someone is weakening the Miasma in Deanfold City. It looks like the people there aren't totally helpless." Celest Vagabond sighed while making his decision.

He continued: "Tell everyone to prioritise safety and comfort. I'll take full responsibility."

Even though he said that, the baby-faced old man knew there'd be no consequences here.

He was the one above all in Faustus City.

The boss above their bosses.

Who could hold him accountable?

…Maybe one of his dead friends could do so.

Either way, Celest wasn't going to ruin the fun by arriving too early or too late to intervene.

It looked like he had everything under control.

The world moved to his every whim.

In a distant fallen city, he sent a message to a woman hunting Dark Muses on a daily basis.

Telling her something interesting.

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"Gah! Hah… hah…" Lex coughed and almost hurled when he finally woke out his dream.

He looked around himself.

His father was gone, and Ryan was asleep.

"Where did he go…?" There was no way his dad would just up and vanish out of nowhere.

He checked the front seats. There were two weapons and a note left on the front seat.

The note had read:

{Lex, if you're reading this, then I've gone because there was business to take care of.

Go home and rest. Contact your school and don't panic. You need to stay strong for me.

I've finished refining your personal Cursed Weapons. Unlike others, you won't be hit by negative effects since it's your own Qareen aka Spirit Companion in them. Just don't be mean to them and treat them like a friend.

You know more than anyone about these weapons, so teach your friend to use his.

Don't worry about me.}

The small letter had ended, and there wasn't much to say. Lex was given free reign here.

He could either go look for his father, or return home to clean up his wounds from earlier.

"…" Truthfully, he wanted to follow Landan.

He silently contemplated his options, but then looked at the wound Ryan sustained.

'He needs some attention…' There wasn't much to think about when a friend's life was at stake. He was confident his dad wasn't up to anything stupid and irresponsible right now.

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Meanwhile, in that same store, Landan was doing something stupid but not irresponsible.

He should get a cookie for that or something.

The last exorcist was a real hero. Putting his life at risk to destroy a cursed demonic blade.

Now… if only he could look the part as well.

"Hehe, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" A man using stolen goods from an abandoned store set up the most expensive array of Magic Circles. It made him look like a sort of mad scientist.

In front of him was a highly ominous blade.

The world before him changed.

Landan could see the real world being peeled off. The only thing left was only the imaginary.

There, he saw Shaitaan's true essence and anchor. He saw the origin of all Red Wind.

"You ARE going down!" A roar left his throat.

With a few hand movements, the expensive array covered the sword with water at the centre of it all. He bolstered his Water Runes with Orthodox Magic taught to him in school.

Using his Arcane Mind to its full potential.

The great demonic blade was covered in the water-like magical energy expelling from him.

It started to melt the 'Absolute' flow of energy.

Endless resentment could not be blocked or purified, but it could be routed via this river.

Landan controlled the flow well.

He used the flow of water to isolate the endless power. When it became too much, he just added more 'streams'. Creating a sort of network that seemed similar to something.

"Hey… I don't need THIS anymore, huh~?" A drunk and chaotic look appeared in his eyes.

The man wasn't himself anymore.

He had become so influenced by the Red Wind that his mind was no longer sane.

It was at this point he reached out his hand.

The one with the plus sign engraved into it.

The streams of resentment connected with the Limiter on his hand. It extended its reach.

A suppressive power then captured the evil.

The rivers of Red Wind were adopting a new technology. It was becoming mechanised.

Two different engineering techniques were used at this moment. The old style of 'Spell Circling' that was originally used to create the vile weapon, and the new style of 'Magic Circuitry' that was used to create Limiters.

Both of them having their own gimmicks.

The latter was the most advanced form of artificing that an Artificer like Landan couldn't get his hands on. The former was what he was mainly using to connect with the Limiter.

It was in hopes of creating a bridge.

Once the blade was attached to it, the force of the Limiter would extend to the Devil Sword.

Essentially turning it useless.

An endless amount of Red Wind formed via Miasma Core was being used as a furnace.

Combining two technologies together.

Red lines of circuitry started to appear on the blade. It started to change shape by his will.

Landan unconsciously held the sword hilt.

Only to realise his mistake. The sword had done one final trick in its last moments.

"No-!" The man's screams were cut off when the blade finally managed to possses him.

An explosion got the attention of a girl nearby.

Within the red smoke, a figure holding the cursed blade was reborn a Demonic Entity.

A true 'Demon' was born.

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[Celest Vagabond Gallery]

—Celest Vagabond